Epidemiology and Control of Legionellosis, Singapore

To determine trends and clinical and epidemiologic features of legionellosis in Singapore, we studied cases reported during 2000–2009. During this period, 238 indigenous and 33 imported cases of legionellosis were reported. Cases were reported individually and sporadically throughout each year. Although the annual incidence of indigenous cases had decreased from 0.46 cases per 100,000 population in 2003 to 0.16 cases per 100,000 in 2009, the proportion of imported cases increased correspondingly from 6.2% during 2000–2004 to 27.3% during 2005–2009 (p<0.0005). The prevalence of Legionella bacteria in cooling towers and water fountains was stable (range 12.1%–15.3%) during 2004–August 2008

Response of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus to Amicoumacin A

Amicoumacin A exhibits strong antimicrobial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), hence we sought to uncover its mechanism of action. Genome-wide transcriptome analysis of S. aureus COL in response to amicoumacin A showed alteration in transcription of genes specifying several cellular processes including cell envelope turnover, cross-membrane transport, virulence, metabolism, and general stress response. The most highly induced gene was lrgA, encoding an antiholin-like product, which is induced in cells undergoing a collapse of Δψ. Consistent with the notion that LrgA modulates murein hydrolase activity, COL grown in the presence of amicoumacin A showed reduced autolysis, which was primarily caused by lower hydrolase activity. To gain further insight into the mechanism of action of amicoumacin A, a whole genome comparison of wild-type COL and amicoumacin A-resistant mutants isolated by a serial passage method was carried out. Single point mutations generating codon substitutions were uncovered in ksgA (encoding RNA dimethyltransferase), fusA (elongation factor G), dnaG (primase), lacD (tagatose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase), and SACOL0611 (a putative glycosyl transferase). The codon substitutions in EF-G that cause amicoumacin A resistance and fusidic acid resistance reside in separate domains and do not bring about cross resistance. Taken together, these results suggest that amicoumacin A might cause perturbation of the cell membrane and lead to energy dissipation. Decreased rates of cellular metabolism including protein synthesis and DNA replication in resistant strains might allow cells to compensate for membrane dysfunction and thus increase cell survivability

Association between Facial Emotion Recognition and Bullying Involvement among Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by impaired social interaction, communication and restricted and repetitive behavior. Few studies have focused on the effect of facial emotion recognition on bullying involvement among individuals with ASD. The aim of this study was to examine the association between facial emotion recognition and different types of bullying involvement in adolescents with high-functioning ASD. We recruited 138 adolescents aged 11 to 18 years with high-functioning ASD. The adolescents&rsquo; experiences of bullying involvement were measured using the Chinese version of the School Bullying Experience Questionnaire. Their facial emotion recognition was measured using the Facial Emotion Recognition Task (which measures six emotional expressions and four degrees of emotional intensity). Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between facial emotion recognition and different types of bullying involvement. After controlling for the effects of age, gender, depression, anxiety, inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity and opposition, we observed that bullying perpetrators performed significantly better on rating the intensity of emotion in the Facial Emotion Recognition Task; bullying victims performed significantly worse on ranking the intensity of facial emotion. The results of this study support the different deficits of facial emotion recognition in various types of bullying involvement among adolescents with high-functioning ASD. The different directions of association between bully involvement and facial emotion recognition must be considered when developing prevention and intervention programs

Implementation of computational methods to pattern recognition of movement behavior of Blattella germanica (Blattaria: Blattellidae) treated with Ca2+ signal inducing chemicals

Response behavior of specimens of the German cockroach (Blattella germanica) exposed to the Ca2+ signal inducing chemicals was characterized through implementation of two computational methods: the Fourier transform analysis and artificial neural networks. Ionomycin, thapsigargin, and their solvent (dimethyl sulfoxide) were topically applied to male German cockroaches, and the movement tracks were continuously observed through the image processing system under semi-natural conditions for 4–5 days. The specimens treated with the chemicals revealed different movement patterns: 1) shaky advancement and entanglement of the movement tracks with the ionomycin treatments; 2) continuous, circular movements with the thapsigargin treatments; and 3) shaky turning movements with the dimethyl sulfoxide treatments. The movement tracks in time domain were further analyzed with the two-dimensional fast Fourier transform (2-D FFT). The coefficients of the 2-D FFT efficiently revealed characteristics that resided in the two-dimensional data of the movement tracks in the frequency domain. Subsequently the magnitudes of the coefficients were trained by self-organizing map (SOM) through unsupervised learning. Classification of the different movement patterns was possible with the trained network. The combined use of the 2-D FFT and the SOM could be an alternative tool to automatically monitor behavioral changes in specimens exposed to stimulating chemicals

The Effect of Nitrogen-Doped ATO Nanotubes on Radical Multiplication of Buffer Media by Visible Light Photocatalysis Rather UV

The use of TiO2 in photodynamic therapy for the treatment of cancer has generally been studied in cultured cancer cells in serum-containing RPMI 1640 medium under visible light application rather than ultraviolet (UV) light. An ordered channel array of N-doped anodic titanium dioxide (ATO) has been successfully made for visible light application. ATO nanotubes in the anatase form with a length of 10 μm are more effective than nanotubes of 1.8 μm in length as a photocatalyst for radical multiplication in buffer solution by generating hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radical anions under UV-A exposure. Only the N-doped ATO is applicable to visible light photocatalysis for radical multiplication in RPMI 1640+1% FBS and acrylamide, a free radical carrier

Geriatric Fever Score: a new decision rule for geriatric care.

BackgroundEvaluating geriatric patients with fever is time-consuming and challenging. We investigated independent mortality predictors of geriatric patients with fever and developed a prediction rule for emergency care, critical care, and geriatric care physicians to classify patients into mortality risk and disposition groups.Materials and methodsConsecutive geriatric patients (≥65 years old) visiting the emergency department (ED) of a university-affiliated medical center between June 1 and July 21, 2010, were enrolled when they met the criteria of fever: a tympanic temperature ≥37.2°C or a baseline temperature elevated ≥1.3°C. Thirty-day mortality was the primary endpoint. Internal validation with bootstrap re-sampling was done.ResultsThree hundred thirty geriatric patients were enrolled. We found three independent mortality predictors: Leukocytosis (WBC >12,000 cells/mm3), Severe coma (GCS ≤ 8), and Thrombocytopenia (platelets ConclusionsWe found that the Geriatric Fever Score is a simple and rapid rule for predicting 30-day mortality and classifying mortality risk and disposition in geriatric patients with fever, although external validation should be performed to confirm its usefulness in other clinical settings. It might help preserve medical resources for patients in greater need

The chemical structures of amicoumacin A and xenocoumacin 1.

<p>The chemical structures of amicoumacin A and xenocoumacin 1.</p

Serial passage experiments with <i>S. aureus</i> COL selected for increasing resistance to amicoumacin A.

<p>Each circle shows fold-resistance on each day.</p